Ashes of Creation Early Access Review

 

Ashes of Creation Early Access: 

The Mirage That Finally Materialized... Into a Dumpster Fire

Ashes of Creation, the MMORPG that promised to reinvent the genre with its groundbreaking node system, player-driven everything, and a world so dynamic it'd make your grandma's soap opera look static, has finally stumbled into Steam Early Access. After eight glorious years of vaporware trailers, crowdfunding cash grabs (remember those $1,000 preorders for... vibes?), and alpha tests that felt like beta tests for a game that doesn't exist yet, we're here. December 11, 2025. Alpha Two, patch 0.18, the "Harbinger Update." Behold the divine gates of Verra... creaking open to reveal a barren wasteland of bugs, broken dreams, and a login queue longer than the line for the last lifeboat on the Titanic.

Let's start with the launch, shall we? Because nothing screams "polished Early Access" like dropping a $49.99 bundle on Steam and immediately rendering it unplayable for thousands. Players couldn't even *link their accounts* because the website decided to take a permanent vacation. Launcher tracks your playtime even when you're staring at an endless error screen? Check. Hours wasted in queues just to crash on character select? Double check. Refunds? Ha! Good luck prying that money back from Intrepid's grubby mitts while their support team plays hot potato with your tickets. And if you *did* make it in? Congrats, your first ability probably bluescreened the client faster than you could say "tab-targeting hell." Steam reviews? "Mostly Negative" within hours, because even the most optimistic white knights couldn't polish this turd. Censorship claims flying around because negative reviews mysteriously vanish? Shocker.

Now, onto the game itself—or what's left of it after the hype train derailed into a ravine. Graphics? Imagine a 2010s Unreal Engine 4 demo that someone left rendering in the sun too long. Textures pop in like they're auditioning for a glitch art exhibit, characters look like they were modeled by a drunk intern, and the world? Ninety percent empty sandbox with no sand. Just grey void and the occasional tumbleweed made of placeholder assets. Performance? Crashes galore, memory leaks that'd make a 90s dial-up modem blush, frame drops during *walking*, and player collision turned on because apparently bumping into every sweaty tryhard like human pinballs is "immersive." Pro tip: Toggle that action camera if you want combat that doesn't feel like mashing buttons on a laggy NES emulator. Oh wait, they don't tell you that exists. Because tutorials are for chumps.

Gameplay? Boring doesn't even cover it. Leveling is a slog of "talk to NPC A, fetch stick from NPC B, kill 10 rats while fighting over tags because first-click dibs is peak MMO design." Quests are so uninspired, you'd think they copy-pasted them from a WoW private server circa 2006. Nodes? That revolutionary system where players build cities and shape the world? Barely functional placeholders. Caravans? Glitches on wheels. PvP? Zergfests in empty zones because content is thinner than Steven Sharif's hairline. And high-level stuff? Lol, good luck getting there without rage-quitting at level 5. It's a "sandbox" alright—one where the kids left, the toys broke, and all that's left is AFK fishing because why not monetize idling in a void?

But wait, there's more! The cash shop. Dropped day one on an *alpha*. Ugliest cosmetics this side of a Roblox fever dream, priced like they're dipped in unicorn tears. Preorder suckers who dropped thousands back in 2017? Enjoy your digital shrugs while newbies buy the same garbage for Steam bucks. It's not pay-to-win (yet), but give it a month—Intrepid's gotta fund those eternal delays somehow. And delays? This game's been "one year away" since Obama was president. Alpha One was a slideshow, Alpha Two is a buggy slideshow with delusions of grandeur. Steven promised the moon; we got a pothole.

Look, I get it. MMOs are dead, players are desperate, and Ashes had that sweet hype nectar. Sales spiked initially because suckers gonna suck. But two days in, it's a ghost town of regret. White knights shilling "it's alpha, bro!" while refunding in droves. Potential? Sure, like Star Citizen has "potential" after a decade of spaceship simulators. But at this rate, full release is 2035, and it'll be buggy F2P mobile trash by then.

Skip this scam-in-progress. Go touch grass, or better yet, boot up New World Aeternum or whatever's not actively mocking your wallet. Ashes of Creation: Where dreams go to die, one crash at a time. 2/10, would not rise from these ashes.